The BBC reports that the Israeli government has apologized for a “spoof video” making fun of the Israeli assault on the Mavi Marmara:
The video shows people dressed as peace activists singing “we con the world” to the tune of We Are the World.
A spokesman said the video did not represent the Israeli government’s view.
The video contains real footage of the Israeli raid on the flotilla in which nine activists died
In the clip, which parodies the video made for the 1985 charity song, the singers are dressed up in costumes representing the captain of the flotilla, western peace activists, and Arabs wearing keffiyeh scarves.
“There’s no people dying, so the best that we can do, is create the greatest bluff of all”, they sing.
“We are peaceful travellers, we’re waving our own knives,” the song goes.
The song builds to a chorus of “we con the world, we con the people. We’ll make them all believe the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is Jack the Ripper.”
At one point the singer dressed as the flotilla captain sings “Ithbah al-Yahud” which means “slaughter the Jews” in Arabic.
The video is interspersed with footage from the Israeli commando raid on the Mavi Marmara, the Turkish lead vessel of the flotilla which tried to break an Israeli and Egyptian blockade on Gaza last week.
The video, according to the BBC piece, was the very bright idea of the Jerusalem Post‘s deputy editor, Caroline Glick. In addition to her “journalistic” duties, Glick operates a satirical website called Latma.co.il. She called the video an “important contribution” to the discussion of the events that took place on May 31 off the coast of Gaza.
And although the government may not have had an official role in making the video, at least one government official was not shy about conveying his enthusiasm for it:
Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, told the UK’s Guardian newspaper: “I called my kids in to watch it because I thought it was funny. It is what Israelis feel. But the government has nothing to do with it.”
Maybe Hamas can put together a video response about their next suicide bombing or rocket attack on one of those Israeli border towns. I’m no song writer, so I won’t presume to guess what the lyrics might sound like, but I’m sure Caroline Glick and Mark Regev will love it. They sound like a duo with a cool sense of humor.
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